Lynn is a tan zebra finch girl who lived with Randy and seemed perfectly happy for quite some time. Then she changed her mind, seems like. She began chasing him around the cage. It was just once or twice now and then at first, but it got worse as days passed.
"Stop it," I'll tell the finches who are chasing and threatening a partner. They'll both hold still and blink at me while I'm watching for any false move, but quite often go right back to chasing when I turn away.
Randy got fed up with it one day and chased HER. He was mean about it and bit her, coming up with a beakful of feathers a few times. I can't stand that level of aggression. I warned them that I would separate them.
Randy quit chasing. The next day Lynn chased him again. I sighed and went to get the "jail" cage. I filled the food and water dishes of this medium-sized black cage, threw in an eggshell, and set it door to open door with Randy and Lynn's cage.
"OK, guys. One of you move. I don't care which one." In truth, sometimes when the birds even see another cage come into the room, they'll settle down and be good. I was up for that result.
They ignored the other cage--and worse yet, they went back to chasing! You'd think one of them would fly into it by accident in the flitting and flapping, but nooo. I left the two cages together most of a day, and angled light behind the jail cage to make it attractive. Finches often move toward light like sweet little daisies. Not this time. Apparently I had two stubborn souls here.
The next day I tried again for about an hour and they ignored the other cage again. Fed up with the whole deal, I opened the back door and put my hand in their cage to encourage someone to move. My plan was to take Lynn to Lucille's where she could maybe mate with widower Del and provide Lucille's societies some babies to raise.
Did I ever mention how our tan finches seem to fly really fast? We call them tan rockets.
I must have tried for a good solid five minutes to get one of them to move into the other cage. I waved my hand around, tried to block, tried to herd, then tried to catch. I hate that. They get upset. I get upset. They get tired. I get tired. Sometimes it's because they get tired that I can finally get hold of one in a corner, poor thing.
Suddenly Randy flew into the other cage. Now to close three cage doors without a bird escaping or him coming back. It turned into a mess because the door latch on the jail cage embedded itself in the wall of the flight cage and wouldn't come out until I grabbed pliers. I didn't have enough hands for all this, so my husband came to help.
Phew! So Randy lived in the jail cage on top of their flight cage for a couple days. This was just in case Lynn had second thoughts about her dissatisfaction with Randy. She didn't. They didn't call for each other all that day. The next morning he hollered like the males often do when they can't see their mate. And like the females often do when the males holler like that, she kept her beak buttoned and refused to answer.
Meantime, Lynn acted like she was at a resort and had a grand time bopping all around that big cage all by herself. No pining away, no calling, no eyeballing him above her. She was done with him.
So she went to Lucille's--which involved getting her to move out of the flight cage and into a little transporter cage. Another stubborn, "I won't go, I won't" on her part, but she finally went into the little cage. As I carried her out of the house to the car, Randy called for her. She didn't say a word.
And she didn't want any of Lucille's males either for three days. She tried them all, but fought with them all to one degree or another. No matter where she was, when Fred would talk, Lynn would answer, so Lucille thought she wanted Fred. But when she put them together, Lynn argued with him.
Heated finch discussions look like clashing swords except it's clashing beaks and pecking at each others beaks. This is natural for our birds and seems to be how they settle differences of opinion. But it didn't seem Lynn was content there, so Lucille told Lynn she could have a cage to herself. She set it up and held the open doors together. Lynn was all, "Nope, I won't go," again.
So Lynn and Fred are now living happily together. Randy didn't call for her from the time she went out of sight. I have three couples in three cages and three single fellows in three other cages. And peace.
For about a week. Now Fay is chasing Squeaks! He refuses to fight. He runs from her and makes a short sound over and over like chalk on a blackboard and it sounds so sad. I think this may be the end of their happy life together too. I wonder if she wants one of the single guys. I see she's looking across the room at Andy and Randy's cages. Hmm.